Planned Buffalo City never quit made it

     Buffalo City, located along the eastern side of the Mississippi River below the bluffs, is another community planned as a city with a future.
     However, as often results, the best laid plans of men go awry.
     The community was first thought of in 1855 when a group of men founded the General Colonization Society of Cincinnati with the goal of picking an area which would develop with the country.

Mostly young immigrants

     Members of the society were mostly young German and Swiss families, many of whom came to the Ohio area from their homelands only a few years before.
     The Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River was selected because of its size and easy land acquisition.
      The land was surveyed and city boundaries established with 1,854 lots in the area three miles long by a half-mile wide. Members purchased stock in businesses to be developed.
     Three years later, in 1858, a number of settlers had come to Buffalo City and a sawmill, store and brewery were started.
     The community built a wing dam to prevent boats from striking cows swimming to "Lost Island", but later changed its mind and encouraged riverboat men to stop at the community, but none would.

Railroad change location

     Around 1885 residents were concerned that a railroad would cause physical harm to their grazing cattle and opposed it. The railroad men then built their tracks closer to the bluffs and other communities took advantage of being on the rail line and developed faster than Buffalo City.
     There are several hundred folks living in Buffalo City today, but many of the once carefully-planned streets still haven't any buildings.

Extracted from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.